The Gwent region were on course to secure their first ever points against Leinster in Ireland but failed to complete the feat.
They had trailed 26-13 at the interval and the final outcome looked bleak when Fionn Carr secured the hosts’ bonus-point on 50 minutes.
They battled back and added to Steffan Jones’ first-half try with strikes from Tom Prydie and Dan Evans. The Dragons continued to turn the screw in the final quarter but were dealt a killer blow when Brendan Macken pounced for an interception try to seal a 45-25 win.
“We have to lick our wounds,” Appleyard told the South Wales Argus. “Hopefully there will be a backlash against the Blues on Saturday because there is a feeling of huge disappointment in the squad.
“We had some real chances in the second half and should have gone over for that fourth try. We need to be much more clinical than we were.
“After the opening win against Zebre we wanted to build momentum for the Blues game and we should have done that.
“It’s hugely frustrating that we don’t have anything to show for our efforts because this was a great chance for us and our preparation was perfect.
“There needs to be some honest chat this week because there is no way that we should have been going home with nothing. There were some great moments in attack but we need to be much, much more clinical against the Blues.”
The Dragons took an early lead at the RDS thanks to the boot of Prydie before Ian Madigan responded.
But Leinster surged in front after Andrew Conway grabbed the first try following an impressive break from Noel Reid.
Madigan slotted the conversion but the Dragons quickly hit-back as Reid turned from hero to villain as Steffan Jones intercepted his pass to canter home.
Madigan and Prydie continued to exchange shots at goal before Ben Marshall put the hosts in the driving seat.
The Dragons were dealt a blow when Nathan Williams was sent to the sin-bin as half-time edged closer and the Heineken Cup champions took full advantage following the restart with Sean Jennings and Carr snatching quick-fire tries.
But the Welsh region displayed great tenacity and, with Dan Evans at the fore, fought back.
The full-back made a scorching break to make the initial in roads for Prydie’s try and he turned from provider to scorer minutes later as the Dragons cut the deficit to 13 points.
They continued to press got a bonus-point try but were hit by a sucker punch when Macken raced clear to put the final nail in the Dragons coffin.
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